ChapterEighteen
Ethan barely had time to put his coffee down before Cami hugged him with a lot more affection than usual, playing her role perfectly. Maybe too perfectly. Delaney cleaned up the breakfast mess on the floor, avoiding his gaze. Her eyes fixed completely on the congealed mass of eggs and plate shards, her chin-length hair hiding her face. Ethan set Cami aside and knelt to help, but Delaney had finished and pushed him away, slicing her finger on the jagged edge of a plate. She yanked her finger away with a sharp hiss. She sucked her finger and stood, jerking away from him when he reached for her.
“I’ve got this. Deal with your friend.” The last was said with a sneer.
He reached for another shard, and she shoved him away. “Go.”
He rocked back on his heels and slowly stood, brushing his hands on his shorts. Cami leaned into him, linking her arm with his. He couldn’t avoid the group of people staring curiously at him. He smiled at Cami, his face feeling brittle, like it would break into a dozen pieces like the plate.
“We were so excited to be here that we came early. The spa at the hotel has some fabulous amenities. Kira and I wanted to enjoy a few of them before tonight. I hope you don’t mind. Ethan?” Cami’s excited voice bounced around the room.
Ethan sucked in a deep breath. She had never seemed so annoying or cloying before. “Cami, what are you doing here? I don’t recall inviting you.”
A man cleared his voice. “Ethan. Good to see you, son. We brought her. Thought you’d like the company of your girlfriend.”
Ethan glared at his father, a muscle ticking in his jaw, the words forced out between clenched teeth. “Dad, we didn’t expect to see you. And especially not Cami, who is not my girlfriend.”
The pixie blond didn’t appear to hear as she was talking with Kira. William frowned at Ethan. “Now, son, she came all this way to spend the weekend with you. Don’t be rude.”
Then William Van Owen turned his back on Ethan. He glanced at Delaney, who rose from the floor with the pieces of the dish. “Delaney, it’s been a long time.”
His voice was forced cheer and goodwill, but too forced, too obvious that the situation was awkward to everyone in the room. The man who was once going to be her father-in-law, the man who was almost a father to her, now acted distant, as if they were mere acquaintances. No, his father treated acquaintances with more warmth than he was exhibiting toward her.
Delaney’s smile was stiff. “Nice to see you too, Mr. Van Owen. Hope you don’t mind if I don’t shake your hand.” She nodded at the mess in her hands.
“Of course, of course.” The false joviality continued. “Please, finish what you were doing.”
Delaney’s eyes flashed fire, but she stepped around Ethan toward the garbage. Caroline rushed forward and opened the trash barrel. “What happened?”
Delaney shook her head wordlessly. Caroline shot a furious look at Ethan, his face tight with anger. He was speaking in low tones with his father, face red, while his father deliberately tried to avoid the conversation.
“Ethan, since we arrived early, I reserved a tee time for you and me and Jim and Matthew. It’s a beautiful day and the girls will be at the spa all day, anyway. Leaves us time to talk about the future. Besides, men are never needed for the pre-wedding nonsense, even the groom and the father-in-law-to-be.” His father clapped him on the shoulder to show their camaraderie.
What was his game? His father did nothing without thinking several moves ahead. Leaving the business early, even on a Friday, was not in character. He studied his father as Cami babbled in his ear and his father chatted with Caroline’s father, Jim, about golfing. His father was thinner than he had last seen him, a couple of months after his heart attack. He had never been a heavy man, instead imposing a strict diet and exercise regimen on himself, not to mention any staff who wanted to succeed at Van Own Financial. But his complexion was paler than before, almost gray, belying the image of health his father was desperately trying to portray. And it was desperate. Ethan could almost smell it, his father teaching him from a young age to find weaknesses in others and exploit it. His father saw that as good business. Ethan now saw it as manipulation. The truth was probably somewhere in between.
Cami’s voice brought him back to the present. “Delaney Winters? Hi, I’m Cami Spencer, Ethan’s girlfriend. I’ve heard so much about you!”
“I’ll bet you have,” Delaney said quietly, then pasted a bright smile on her face that seemed carved from stone. “Hi, Cami. I’ve heard absolutely nothing about you. Right, Ethan?”
The last words were said sweetly, with poison lacing every syllable. Ethan winced, mentally gearing himself up for a long, involved discussion. Damn, he didn’t want to embarrass Cami, who was a sweet girl, but if he didn’t get her out of here, there was going to be bloodshed.
“That’s okay! I heard you girls will get your nails done today. Maybe I can join you and we can compare notes.”
Delaney’s face was a carefully blank mask and Ethan could only imagine what she was thinking.
Before he could step between them, Kira, his stepmother, interjected. “A manicure this late in the week? Caroline, dear, I would have thought you would have done that days ago.”
Caroline heaved a breath and smiled at the other woman. “We had that storm this week and held off on our nails because we knew we might damage them in the preparation for the wedding and storm cleanup.”
Kira waved her hand. “That’s what the help is for, like your bridesmaids and maid of honor. You’re the bride and too busy to be bothered with details like that.”
Delaney’s gaze narrowed, and she opened her mouth, but Ethan stepped in the middle. “Kira, you know how hands-on Caroline likes to be. Besides, it’s not really your place to tell her how to run her wedding, is it?”
“I can fight my own battles, Ethan.” Delaney spoke low behind him, for his ears only. She then stepped around him. “Caroline, I’m going to head upstairs to finish getting ready. Nice seeing you, Mr. and Mrs. Van Owen. Jim and Nancy, I hope to catch up with you later today.” The last words were directed at Caroline’s parents, who smiled warmly at Delaney, a pointed contrast to the icy, formal tone she used with Ethan’s parents.
She glided out of the room as if she had a tiara on her head rather than a man’s shirt spattered with eggs. Caroline hurried after her, glancing back at Ethan, her look promising retribution.
He turned his attention back to the room, to a mixed set of reactions. Caroline’s parents chatted casually with Matthew, who shook his head sadly at Ethan.